David Blaine.......

David Blaine is a character I have always been extremely fascinated by. He seems to be the object of a lot of unfair criticism by the general public (particularly us Brits when he did 'Above The Below' in London). I find it hard to understand how anyone can criticise any of the stunts he has done and instead just see it as acts of pure courage, inner strength and determination!

For any person to:
- be buried alive for 7 days (Buried Alive)
- live inside a block of ice for 3 days (Frozen in Time)
- stand on a 100 foot tall pillar that was only 22 inches wide for a day and a half (Vertigo)
and most amazing of all:
- live in a plexi-glass box hanging over the River Thames for 44 days with no food, only water (Above the Below)

is to me a demonstration that anything can be succesfully completed when you put your mind to it. I went to 'Above the Below' and have quite literally never seen anything like it. I went on Day 44 - the last day - and it was an experience I will always remember. I'm very much looking forward to his next stunt, which I believe is upcoming in May.

The reason I have based this entry on David Blaine is that I read something on his website today which is great advice to anyone and to me specifically, something I should bare in mind with my golf and recent events (playing tests).
On his website he has published some of his journal entries from 'Above the Below' and there is a section from his entry on Day 29 that has got me to thinking. It reads:

'nothing great comes easy. Most will doubt you if you try and do something different. It is just their own insecurities. Appreciate them also because - NOTHING GREAT COMES EASY.
Failure is just part of the path. So is: failure, failure, failure, failure . Success will come - you just keep getting better.'

I think there is a lot of sense in the end of that bit and for me it has completely changed my golfing perspectives. I have had people quite flatly tell me they don't believe I have to potential to do what I want to do and I now realise that is just sometimes human nature to be negative and over-opinionated. It has no baring on what my outcome will be and the only person in control of that is yours truly.
To translate all this in to my own words 'failure is a very important part of improvement and success. The only real failure is not learning from these experiences and correcting them in the future'.
Every time you fail something, it makes you better prepared for next time. My own relevant problems with my golf are highlighted by this as it seems clear that obviously I have much to learn and although I have learned so much already, clearly there is still a lot of work needed. Whatever happens next is just merely another rock along the path which, lets face it, is never-ending!

Feeling particularly philosophical today so wanted to share this with you all......